Is It Still The Grand Oil Party?

摘要

When it comes to having a nose for changing political winds in Washington, your prototypical oil industry CEO bears an uncanny resemblance to Alfred E. Neuman. Only a week after two normally reliable and pliant Republicans—House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (Ill.) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (Tenn.)—leveled rhetorical broadsides at Big Oil for record third-quarter profits, sky-high prices, and failure to commit to new refineries, many energy executives are brushing aside the barbs as mere cover-your-tail rhetoric from fretful friends. After all, Republicans received more than $20 million from energy interests in the last election, and the two oilmen who run the White House have never gotten tough with their political benefactors. So you can understand why Big Oil's response to Republican potshots is: What, me worry?